Rajkumar Sharma stops live interview after Virat Kohli calls him post Champions Trophy 100* against Pakistan

Rajkumar Sharma was in the middle of a live interview when his phone rang. Glancing at the screen, he said, "Usi ka phone hai (He is calling)." It was Virat Kohli. After countless runs and towering achievements, Kohli still never forgets to call his childhood coach after a big match. And what bigger occasion than an India vs Pakistan encounter at the Champions Trophy? Rajkumar, already brimming with joy, stopped the interview and quietly went away from the camera to talk to his ward. When he returned, his smile got bigger. Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma after getting Virat Kohli's call

"I congratulated him. You feel really happy during these times," he told Rohit Juglan after resuming the interview.

This sums up Virat Kohli and his relationship with Rajkumar Sharma. If there is anything that occupies a large chunk of his life other than cricket, that is family and friends. Kissing the locket for his wife, Anushka Sharma has become a regular sight every time he scores a century, and so has a call to his childhood coach, who has played a pivotal role in shaping his career as a cricketer.

Kohli slammed his 51st ODI century to play a starring role in his team's crucial six-wicket win over Pakistan on Sunday in Dubai, which put India in the semifinals.

‘Hope you won’t ask me whether Virat Kohli is out of form'

"Ab to nahi poochhoge ki Virat form mein nahi hai?" (I hope, you won't ask me that Virat is not in form)," Sharma, who was in Dubai to watch Kohli play, told 'PTI Videos'

This was Kohli's first ODI hundred since November 2023. The 36-year-old had been drawing a lot of flak for not scoring enough big knocks in the last couple of years.

Sharma maintained that Kohli has never been out of form.

"He has been a big match player as I have always said and that is what he has proved today. He has always performed well against tough opposition," Sharma said of Kohli's unbeaten 100 that also fetched the Player of the Match award last night.

"He has been doing this for the last so many years. He is a guy who has won most matches for the country," he added.

During the course of his knock, Kohli also became the fastest to reach 14,000 ODI runs, placing only behind Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara on the all-time list. Sharma is proud of that achievement too.

"Apart from 51st ODI & 82nd overall hundred, he has completed 14,000 ODI runs as well. It is a big achievement and I am proud of him that he has made the whole country proud. We are all happy that he has given happiness to the whole country," he remarked.

When asked what he would advise him to do from here on to clinch the Champions Trophy, the coach said: "Look, he is such an experienced guy.

"He has played for so long and he knows what is right and what needs to be done and his role in the team and he has been delivering. He knows his role in the team."

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